Recorded in the summer of 1996 with a rotating band of New Orleans musicians, Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers is the first solo release from Greg Dulli, lead singer for Ohio's whisky-bar Motown rockers the Afghan Whigs. That this ever made it to the pressing plant is a surprise; shortly after recording ended, Whigs paymasters Elecktra severed ties with their investment, and--unmixed--the mastertapes were left to collect cobwebs for the best part of four … mehryears. In 2000, Dulli took the tapes to England and, unconventionally, mixed them with the aid of British remix outfit Fila Brazillia. Twilight, then, shuns the unpolished, earthy soul of the Whigs--the opening "The Twilight Kid" is bolstered by a glossy drum loop, and "Annie May" comes with a breakbeat-laden backdrop of stuttering electronics. The trouble is, slick sequencing does absolutely nothing for these tales of simmering jealousy and torn romanticism; Dulli's raw emotive thrust is diluted to the point of sterility. If you are unacquainted with the Afghan Whigs, look straight to Dulli's masterpiece, 1993's Gentlemen; this is for Whigs obsessives only. --Louis Pattison weniger
1 - Last temptation
2 - Railroad lullaby
3 - East 17th
4 - Into the street
5 - Twilight